Learning About Mic Shock Mounts (Universal) and Shoe Clips

Mic shock mounts and shoe clips prevent vibrations and other sounds from traveling up the mic stand and interfering with the recording process, while also providing a range of other benefits. For professional level recording studios and filming projects, these specialized mounts and shoe clips are often necessary.

Benefits of Shock Mounts

Use shock mounts to help reduce vibration from your microphone stands. Vibrations can often become extremely pronounced when recording on stands with portable staging systems and older mic stand designs. These mounts provide basic protection against impacts, although their primary purpose is sound isolation. Handling noises on boompoles and fishpoles are also potential sources of audio interference while filming, and using shock mounts with these mic poles helps reduce this interference. High-end mic shock mounts often feature rubber O-rings, which provide excellent shock absorption without sacrificing control over the microphones.

Understanding Mic Hot and Cold Shoe Mounts

Many shock-absorbing mounts attach directly to the hot shoes of cameras. Hot shoes are mounting points on cameras that connect electrically to the power supply, and you can use them for flashes and the like. While many mic mounts connect directly to hot shoes via hot shoe clips, you can also attach cold shoes on cameras. Cold shoes are mounting points without electricity. You can use mic mounts and clips on both hot shoes and cold shoes.

Choosing the Right Mic Shock Mounts

There are many types of shock-absorbing mounts, and different mounts are useful in different situations. Mounts specifically designed for sound recording and music production usually attach to the microphone stands. With mounts designed explicitly for filmmaking, you attach them directly to boompoles or shotgun mics. While many of these mounts involve extensive suspension systems with O-rings and other designs, there are also simpler mounts that may be more durable.

If you need seriously clean sound when recording audio, check out B&H Photo and Video for a large selection of studio shock mounts and location sound microphone accessories.